Kovu and Kiara
by Fusion Palace
Summary: Two prides, both alike in dignity - in fair Africa, where we lay our scene. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil paws unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes a pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows do with their death bury their parents' strife. (AU: Accurate version of RxJ).
1. Prologue

_Author's Note: Hello, fellow fans of the Lion King Franchise! I know you've probably heard it before – yawn, not another Romeo and Juliet story, that's probably what you're thinking. _

_But with this plot, I'm trying to be as accurate as possible to the play (minus the Shakespearean 'thy love is pure blah, blah, blah'. I'll stick to the modern dialogue, and add a couple of Canon scenes while I'm at it. Below the Prologue will be the African/Swahili versions of the names of the characters – and trust me, it took a lot of research on that part. It's not as easy as it looks. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Chapter one is going to be up soon. _

_Enjoy, and please leave constructive criticism or any reviews in general when you finish reading. Thanks! _

**Prologue**

Two prides, both alike in dignity,  
In fair Africa, where we lay our scene,  
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,  
Where civil blood makes civil paws unclean.  
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes  
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;  
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows  
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.  
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,  
And the continuance of their parents' rage,  
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,  
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;  
The which if you with patient ears attend,  
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

**Canon Characters (African/Swahili name meanings will be in brackets) **

_Kovu – Romeo (Scar) _

_Kiara – Juliet (Light) _

_Simba – Capulet (Lion) _

_Nala – Lady Capulet (Gift) _

_Zira – Lady Montague (Hate) _

_Vitani – Herself (Demon of War)_

_Nuka – Himself (Stink) _

_Rafiki – Himself (Friend) _

_Timon – Himself (Respect) _

_Pumbaa – Himself (Stunned/Slow-witted) _

**Original Characters **

_Monnik – Friar (Friar Lawrence) _

_Abiodun - Born at a Festival (Mercutio) _

_Guzi – Nurse (altered version) (Nurse) _

_Vurugu – Tybalt (Violent) _

_Beshi – Paris (African variant of Ethiopia)_

_Hami – Bonvolio (altered male version for Swahili name 'Dhamira' meaning thoughtful). _

_Damba –Prince of all the lands/Prince Escalus (King) _

_Abdira – Friar John (Meaning servant of the mercifully gracious - shortened version of Abdiraxman) _

_Abdalla – (Servant of God)_

_Lok – Sampson, one of the Capulet servants and he hates the _

_Montagues as much as his master does (Provoke)_

_Daudi – Gregory, one of the Capulet servants and he hates the _

_Montagues as much as his master does (David) _

_Kivuli –Abram, Montague's servant, he sends the message of Juliet's death to Romeo (Shadow) _

_Sumu – A not so wealthy apothecary, he sells poison to Romeo for money (Poison) _

_Mwamba – Is Peter, a Capulet servant – he is illiterate and a bad singer (Rock) _

_Mbali – Plays Rosaline, a girl who swore to a life of chastity. Romeo is infatuated with her and heartbroken, until he meets Juliet (Flower) _


	2. Chapter 1: The Brawl of Two Prides

_Author's Note – Here is a more accurate version, basically of Romeo and Juliet in the Lion King universe. Just to give you a head's up, I'm going to tell you that there won't be just female members of the prides, and the characters will be OOC so I can write with the flow of the script – and also, I'll be giving my own modern text of the Elizabethan play. _

**_Important:_**_ I will be using British Microsoft Word format, so some spellings and words may vary from your usual vocabulary, if you're an American or are familiar with American-English. Enjoy, and please review! _

**Chapter 01 – The Brawl of Prides **

A vast savannah teems with various animals, all graze peacefully – however, there is an air of unease. Despite the calm and tranquillity, the citizens of the Pridelands gaze at their boundary with wide, terrifyingly alert eyes. As though they were the hunted, the victim of the pledge of hatred between the Outsiders and the Pridelanders whom dwell the kingdoms hail.

From afar, two lions cross the feeble, invisible border that separates the Outlands and the Pridelands. One might disagree, and say it was fairly obvious as to which land was which – the Outlands was a place of despair and little hope, no life beyond the termites and exiled dwellers, save for the carnivores who ate on barely edible cretins.

The Pridelands was the Garden of Eden in Africa, the land of the Great Kings. Eating there was like having an 'all you can eat buffet' every single day of your life. Life flourished here, as did the lions who lived there.

'Daudi, I swear, we can't let them humiliate us. We won't take their foul words,' a lion seethed, as he brought a carcass offered from a flattering lioness he had accompanied earlier. He licked his blood-stained jaws, massive in shape and form.

'No, because if we replied with foul words, then we'd be no better than those filthy Outsiders – the scum of our kind,' Daudi replied with a flash of his teeth, more in a teasing than a threatening manner. His friend Lok was far stockier than he, with a light brown pelt and a dark mane to accompany it - his eyes were a terrifying, fathomless black.

'What I mean is, if they make us angry we'll extend our claws and challenge them.' Lok replied to his friend, his shoulders tensed whilst he spoke, teeth clenched and his forehead creased to that of an aged king of beasts.

'Maybe you should focus on pulling yourself out of trouble, Lok.' Daudi carefully suggested, eyeing his friend. The two were making their way to Pride Rock, their place of residence shared with the rest of their kin. It was still quite a while off, so they had asked one of the lionesses to hunt for them before they had left for a very long walk.

'I hit hard when I'm angry.' Lok grunted in retort, all focus set on a possible fight between himself and a rival Outsider. His ears listened for the slightest disturbance that could neither be from an Elephant nor the smallest of moles and insects.

He was waiting for the shift of unwelcome claws in the dry earth nearby - not that of his kin but for the presence of an enemy that made the very organs within him do several flips over and over. Not the nervous kind, but that which caused a deep, forbidden anger of blind fury.

'But it's hard to make you angry.' Daudi sighed, not bothering to refrain from rolling his hazel eyes. The two lions were side by side, they had not long ago passed by a herd of stiff and nervous gazelle. One adult had bade them a good morning, in an attempt to brighten the clouds above Lok's furiously dark and dangerous spirit.

One of those excuses for lions from the Outsider Pride can make me angry.' Lok snapped as a retort, short fuse evident in his rash actions and babble. His head was raised high to the Great Kings, their stars invisible in the pallet of orange sunrise and glowing daylight.

'Angry enough to run away, you won't stand and fight.' Daudi replied, he released an exhale as he slowly padded towards his home.

'Filth from that Pride will make me angry enough to take a stand. If I pass one of them during a visit to a nearby Pride – or shall they cross our border, I'll take the side closer to a rock and let him walk into dung as they should.' Lok snorted, a smile spread across his face as he imagined the image so pleasant to him alone.

'That means you're the weak one, because weaklings get pushed up against a rock.' Daudi pointed.

'So what I'll do is push the Outsider into the plain.' Lok edited, with a satisfied smirk. He had an air of confidence in his stride, not at all miffed at the prospect of a good fight between himself and his sworn enemy at all.

'The fight is between the leaders, and those who support them.' Daudi emphasized to his companion.

'It's all the same. I'll be a harsh ruler to them. After I fight the men and the females, I'll be nice to the females—I'll cut off their heads somehow.' Lok revealed. Images of a bloody brawl already in his mind, provoked long ago.

'Cut off their heads? You mean their maidenheads?' Daudi indicated half-heartedly.

'Cut off their heads, take their maidenheads—whatever. Take my remark in whichever sense you like.' Lok responded, a grin evident on his face. He found his friend quite a remarkable piece of humour.

The females you rape are the ones who'll have to "sense" it.' Daudi answered.

'They'll feel me as long as I can keep an erection. Everybody knows I'm a nice piece of flesh.' Lok laughed, he found the remark quite funny in spite of himself.

Kivuli, an Outsider, is spotted alongside another from his Pride. The two have not yet noticed Lok and Daudi, who take quite predatory positions from where they are standing alone.

'Get ready to fight now. These males are from the Outsider Pride. Daudi sneered, as he arched his back.

'I have my claws and brawn at the ready. Fight, I'll back you up.' Lok reacted to the entire scene with much excitement, yet also anger at the fact that the Outsiders so freely crossed their borders, not afraid of their enemy at all.

'How will you back me up—by turning your back and running away?' Daudi sneered, as he recalled the last time he was 'backed up' by Lok, who had completely misunderstood their enemy.

'Don't worry about me.' Lok replied, fully prepared to defend his lands from trespassers. 'No. Really, I am worried about you!' Daudi fretted.

'Let's not break the law by starting a fight. Let them start something.' Lok suggested, his plan seemed fairly genious in the eyes of Daudi. For if they gave their own account, then they'd seem the innocent in this brawl of strength and hatred.

'I'll frown at them as they pass by, and they can react however they want.' Daudi gave his own addition to the plot of provoking the Outsiders.

'Hey, what's that for?' Kivuli called from his nearby position.

'I'm sneering.' Daudi simply replied. It took all of his own and Lok's strength not to begin a fit of laughter at the expression plastered on Kivuli's face.

'Are you sneering at us?' Kivuli cried in disbelief, how disrespectful! He thought, enraged at the snickering Pridelanders.

'Is the law on our side if I say yes?' Daudi asked his companion Lok. They were both side by side to each-other, and appeared to be quite casual in their stance. However, they were entirely prepared and also, expectant of a fight.

'No, I am not sneering at you.' Lok answered to Kivuli. He looked passive, his slack position and drooping eyes spoke wonders for his feeble lie.

'Are you trying to start a fight?' Daudi asked, bearing his teeth.

'Start a fight? No.' Kivuli simply replied. He shared a pointed look with his companion. They both were only a few paces across from the rash Pridelanders, so a confrontation would have been easy to start. All the animals surrounding the four lions stopped, some quickly evaded an almost unevitable heated battle.

'If you want to fight, I'm your guy. My ruler is as good as yours.' Lok seemed reasonable, and chose his words carefully as he spoke to the Outsider.

'But he's not better than mine.' Kivuli shrugged, unable to see the point here. What were these males up to?

'Well then.' Lock simply says, arching his back, his muscles flexed. He looked far more capable to win a fight than Kivuli, a lion from the Outlands who wasn't as lucky as he in the food department. However, he was good with tactics and skill, which compensated for his lack of strength.

'If you've got half the lion in you, though I very much doubt it – you'd fight. Daubi, remember how to strike.' Lok challenged, also advising his friend Daubi at the same time.

The lions from both sides fought hard, each clawed at each other ferociously, aiming to draw blood. Loud roars and growls emerged from those in the fight, and the animals nearby either panicked or glared at them.

'Break it up, you fools. Control yourselves and release those claws from sway. You don't know what you're doing.' Hami, an Outlander cried.

'What? You've wasted your energy to fight these worthless servants? Turn around, Hami, and look at the lion who's going to kill you.' Vurugi snickered as Hami tried to calm the storm that had already taken its course.

'I'm only trying to keep the peace. Either back off, help me stop this fight.' Hami snapped at Vurugi, who only glared coldly in return. What?

'You take are ready to attack and then talk about peace? I hate the word peace like I hate hell, all Outsiders, and you. Let's go at it, coward!' Vurugi roared, baring his teeth at the enemy he hated so.

Vurugi and Hami propel forwards at each-other, and aim fierce blows to the head and anywhere else they could reach. Their claws and muzzle were already covered in blood. Unsettled by this brawl, yet angered by the fact that the Pridelanders and Outsiders had disturbed the peace one more, many animals tried to stop the fighting.

Elephants pounded their heavy feet upon the ground. Birds cawed and pecked at the stubborn sworn enemies, other animals less capable for a fight had fled in fright only moments ago.

'Use whatever you can! Hit them! Beat them down! Down with the Pridelanders! Down with the Outsiders!' They all cried with each-other.

'What's this noise? I shall assist my kin, come on!' Simba, King of the Pridelands cries, ready to jump into the fray and support the members of his pride. His uncertain wife, Nala accompanies him.

'Darling-' Nala begins, but is cut off by her beloved. The leader of the Outlands, Arwa enters too with his wife faithfully close.

'I want to fight. Old Arwa is here, and his teasing with his claws makes me mad.' Simba replies with a grunt, not intented nor appearing to be humorous at all - in nature nor in sound thereof.

'Simba, you villain!' Arwa calls, but is held off by Zira. 'Don't stop me. Let me go.' He snapped.

'You're not taking one step toward an enemy.' Zira seethed, she was tired of her husband's petty arguments with the Pridelanders.

A more vibrant and radiant ruler than King Simba and Arwa appeared. Twas Prince Damba, the heir whom shall rule all of Africa in his father's stead – he had as much control over the land as his parent counterpart, who was in no fighting fit state to rule.

'You rebels! Enemies of the peace! Lions who fight against their own neighbors—They won't listen to me?—You there! You lions, you beasts, who satisfy your anger with fountains of each others' blood! I'll have you tortured if you don't back down and listen to your angry prince,' Arwa, Simba and their followers immediately stop their fighting, mid-way through a heated battle. 'Three times now riots have broken out in this empire, all because of a casual word from you, old Pridelander and Outsider. Three times the peace has been disturbed in our lands, and Africs's old citizens have had to risk life and limb to part you. If you ever cause a disturbance on our lands again, you'll pay for it with your lives. Everyone else, go away for now.'

'You, Simba , come with me.' Prince Damba ordered.

'Arwa, this afternoon come to old Free-kingdom, the location where I deliver judgments, and I'll tell you what else I want from you. As for the rest of you, I'll say this once more: go away or be put to death.' Damba warned. The pride members and other supporters of the feuding prides quickly disappeared. Everyone leaves except for Arwa, Zira and Hami.

'Who started this old fight up again? Speak, nephew. Were you here when it started?' Afwa asked, wishing to know the cause of the fight that existed not long ago, moments ago – to be on the more accurate side.

'Your faithful followers were fighting your enemy's supporters before I got here. I tried to part them. Right then, that hothead Vurugi showed up ready to shed blood. He taunted me and swiped his paws, making the air hiss. As we were trading blows, more and more animals showed up to join the fight, until the Prince came and broke everyone up.' Hami gave the truthful, accurate account of events.

'Oh, where's Kovu? Have you seen him today? I'm glad he wasn't here for this fight.' Zira queried, she was sitting next to her husband Arwa. A thoughtful, far away expression clouded her face.

Madam, I had a lot on my mind an hour before dawn this morning, so I went for a walk. Underneath the Boabab tree that grows on the west side of the kingdom, I saw your son taking an early-morning walk. I headed toward him, but he saw me coming and hid in the shrubbery. I thought he must be feeling the same way I was. Wanting to be alone, and tired of his own company. I figured he was avoiding me, and I was perfectly happy to leave him alone and keep to myself.' Hami revealed, he attempted a smile that didn't quite look so happy, more like a grimace.

'He's been seen there many mornings, crying tears that add drops to the morning dew and making a cloudy day cloudier with his sighs. But as soon as the sun rises in the east, my sad son comes home to escape the light.' Arwa says this with a droop of his head, the woes and misery of his son worries him. 'He locks himself up alone in his quarters, shuts himself, and makes himself an artificial night. This mood of his is going to bring bad news, unless someone smart can fix what's bothering him.'

'My noble uncle, do you know why he acts this way?' Hami asked, half expecting the reply already.

'Have you done everything you could to make him tell you the reason?' Arwa replied miserably.

'I've tried, and many of our friends have tried to make him talk, but he keeps his thoughts to himself. He doesn't want any friend but himself, and though I don't know whether he's a good friend to himself, he certainly keeps his own secrets. He's like a flower bud that won't open itself up to the world because it's been poisoned from within by parasites. If we could only find out why he's sad, we'd be as eager to help him as we were to learn the reason for his sadness.' Hami answered wisely, already so grown up with his attitude alone.

_Author's Note: Did you enjoy it? I'd love to get some constructive criticism._ J


	3. Author's Note: On Hiatus, Important!

Hello! As you have noticed, I haven't updated my story Kovu and Kiara in a while. But don't worry, I _refuse_ to abandon this piece of FanFiction!

I will be keeping it on hiatus until I write up enough chapters, so there won't be a pressure in updating. It is extremely difficult trying to modernize scripts, and I have to add in descriptions and vivid events in a story-like format. So as you can see, I have my hands full with this. I'm just trying to give you a head's up, and not give you a heart-attack if you see that I've not updated the story in ages. ;)


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